Was the Angelic Sin of Jude 6 Sexual in Nature?

“And He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling. The second illustration is the fall of the rebellious angels, who erred from their calling by abandoning their assigned domain. Because of their rebellion, they were judged forever to be confined in gloomy darkness.

the angels who did not keep to their own position Many interpreters, both ancient and modern, believe that Gen. 6:1-8 provides the original Biblical account for these events in Jude. This interpretation is reflected also in the book of Enoch, which contains an elaborate description of the disobedient angels. Other interpreters object to the angelic interpretation of the Genesis passage, and identify the angels in this verse as those who participated in the pre-fall angelic rebellion led by Lucifer (Isa 14).The way Jude referred to the angels gives us reason to believe that this truth was well accepted by his readers and thus needed no further explanation. In the light of that, it is interesting that the uniform ancient Jewish and Christian interpretation was that Jude referred these fallen angels to the “sons of God” in Genesis 6.

but deserted their proper dwelling The angels’ proper dwelling place was in heaven except when dispatched to earth on divine business. The similar sin referred to in the next verse was the inordinate sexual activity in Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin led them to want to settle on earth (Gen. 6:1-4) and take wives from mankind in an inordinate sexual move. The parallel reference in 2 Peter 2:4-10 also implies that the angelic rebellion was sexual in nature. If this was what happened, it obviously means that the fallen angels inhabited human bodies.

he has kept in eternal bonds under deep gloom for the judgment of the great day For more on this deep gloom and the eternal bonds see 2 Pet. 2:4. The rebellious angels Jude refers to are now in bondage and await God’s judgment. These are different from the other fallen angels who are Satan’s agents and are at work in the world today, namely, the demons.

But what is the point? The apostates in Jude’s day had also abandoned a position of great privilege, namely, the opportunity to serve and glorify God. God will also judge them severely because of this spiritual departure. Perhaps the apostates in view here were never saved in the first place, but were wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15).”